title: Self-assembling bilayer lipid membranes on solid support.
abstract: Solid-supported bilayer lipid membranes (s-BLMs) that possess some properties similar to those of conventional BLMs can be self-assembled on a freshly cleaved metal wire by a two-step procedure: (i) The tip of a Teflon-coated platinum wire, while immersed in a lipid solution, is cut off with a scalpel; (ii) the new tip of the wire, having become coated with lipid solution, is transferred into 0.1 M KCl. After a few minutes, a stable lipid bilayer forms spontaneously on the tip of the wire, as verified by electrical measurements. An application of such a supported BLM (s-BLM) is reported for the detection of Pb2+ ions. The s-BLM is liquid-crystalline in structure, which makes it amenable to modification for basic studies, as well as for technological applications such as biosensors and molecular electronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824.
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Tien
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Salamon
mesh_terms: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008722:Methods; D010984:Platinum; D012834:Silver; D013193:Stainless Steel
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D013193:Stainless Steel; D012834:Silver; D010984:Platinum